La Simple Verité
by pekori
Summary: Kyouya is still so afraid of admitting the truth of the situation he's found himself in, yet somehow Tamaki ends up being the one with the penchant for lying. [Sequel to Des Mots Simples] [English title: The Simple Truth]
1. Le pas

Author's Note: Ah! Salut! Ça va bien? ...Just kidding! I do hope you are all doing well, though. (For that is what "Ça va bien?" is equivalent to.) Enough with the French lessons (for now :3) — there is a new story to read! Finally, after almost a full month of anticipation, the sequel to _Des Mots Simples_ has arrived! I feel like it is a lot longer than its predecessor, but I think it actually ended up being a bit shorter? Hm, oh well. Either way, I hope you enjoy the course this story takes, and I promise to answer at least a few of those burning questions I left you all with at the end of the last one. If your question doesn't get answered, though, please don't throw things. I bruise easily! (hahaha) 

Disclaimer and Acknolwedgements: First and foremost, this first chapter goes out to EpsilonZero for outright requesting this! That isn't to ignore the rest of you; you too are all reasons I wrote any of this at all. Secondly, _Ouran High School Host Club_ was created by Bisco Hatori and definitely not licensed by myself. Therefore, the following is a work of fiction using characters that are not my own, and no harm nor profit is meant or made by publishing this.

* * *

**CHAPITRE UN: LES PAS** — **CHAPTER ONE: FOOTPRINTS**

School wasn't easy nowadays and it was difficult to tell who had it worse. On the one hand, Tamaki was the more well-known of the pair — or at least the one who was more talked about — and especially being the superintendent's son, his privacy was continually invaded. Alternately, Kyouya simply didn't take this kind of stress very well. What made things worse was how very vigilant he remained for anyone or thing that might be able to trail its way back to his father. It pained Tamaki very much to see the great lengths to which Kyouya would go just to keep this student quiet or that picture undiscovered. And finally, one day, he'd had quite enough of it.

"Kyouya," he said softly, not wanting the others to overhear. The twins were pestering Haruhi, which was no problem, but Honey-senpai and Mori-senpai were eerily quiet and already prone to hearing all of the inner thoughts of the members. At present, the pairs were sitting plenty close enough to be able to listen in on each other's conversations if they weren't careful.

"What is it, Tamaki?" Kyouya sounded quite disinterested and that only further wounded Tamaki.

"I wanted to ask you about something."

"What _is it_, Tamaki." This repetition hadn't been a question, rather Kyouya urging him to just get on with things, seemingly so that he would go back to being silent.

"_C'est important!_" Tamaki shouted, slamming his hands on the table and drawing the attention of the entire room. "_Faut-il vraiment que tu es trop difficile? Je voudrais parler à toi de quelque chose très importants et tu es simplement égoïste et froid! Je le déteste!_" ["It is important!...Must you be so difficult? I would like to speak to you about something very important and you are simply selfish and cold! I hate it!"]

"Tamaki, you are making quite a scene."

The boy did something much more unexpected, then: he took the table in both hands, Kyouya's all-important notes and figures spread over the entirety of it, and flipped it sideways. Then Tamaki gave him the harshest of looks before storming out of the room entirely without another sound save the slamming of the door behind him.

The rest of the hosts watched Kyouya as Tamaki left but Tamaki could feel Kyouya watching him. It was the attention that he'd wanted, but not at all how he had wanted it. It hurt and by the time Tamaki reached the door he was leaving more out of embarrassment than anger. Not a single body tried to stop him.

He closed the door and leaned against it lightly, closing his eyes and staving off tears as he thought of a place he could go. He didn't want to leave school grounds on these terms, but he couldn't yet go back into the room to apologize for what he'd done. Of course he felt guilty for it, but immediately returning to grovel would completely undo everything he had been trying to achieve. Still, he wasn't altogether sure that Kyouya would even want to speak to him after such a show. After taking only a few more moments to compose himself, Tamaki decided that there really was only one place for him to go, and that was to see his father in his office. If nothing else, he could at least go there on the pretense of asking advice about a girl.

There certainly was no way that he could even begin to detail to his father the strains these past few months with Kyouya had caused him. It would come far too close to the fact that the two of them were working things out as a couple, and that wasn't something that Tamaki was yet ready to admit to his father. The words of advice still rang in his head from time to time, though it wasn't until very recently that he was thinking his father might have had a point. There were better ways to unite empires, and perhaps the Suou-Ootori empire was never meant to be in the first place. Besides, he was only barely a Suou to begin with...

"That is no way to be thinking, Tamaki," he told himself, shaking his head a little as he walked, heading down the stairs to return to the main hall so he could cut across the courtyard. "She may be the matriarch, but you are still an important person to everyone else."

"That's the spirit," a familiar voice said, and Tamaki turned to find that his father had sneaked up behind him.

"Father! I didn't even hear you come up!"

"Oh, never mind that!" Tamaki didn't argue because, quite frankly, he wasn't entirely keen on speaking about his grandmother at the moment anyway. "Why don't we take a walk through gardens? There is only a light snow on the grounds and from what I can see from my window, the scenery is breathtaking." Tamaki agreed with a nod, and the two set off outside into the chilly winter air.

The breath from their mouths and noses was visible immediately, and Tamaki knew it wouldn't be long before their faces were reddened from the cold. Still, his father had been right: the view was awesome. The hedges had shed their leaves and roses, which rendered the maze quite useless. However, the frost that clung to the branches turned them such a beautifully delicate shade of white that they blended in so neatly with the surroundings that one just might still be able to get lost within the center. Of course, one would truly only need to follow his or her own shallow footprints to find the way back again.

"Father..." Tamaki began quietly as the serenity of the gardens settled over them. He wasn't sure where they were headed, but supposed it didn't matter; it was too cold for them to stay outside for too long anyway. "How did you ever deal with the criticism?"

His father turned to look at him, smiling warmly but with a very visible sadness in his eyes that answered the question long before he opened his mouth to speak. "Eventually the rumors and the whispers will die out and the eyes will find something new to focus on. Until then, the only thing you can do is carry yourself proudly because you and you alone know the truth of the matter."

Tamaki found his father's response oddly vague, but didn't question it for fear of confirmation of his suspicions. He was sure that there were a fair number of people whose opinions and words on the matter of his relationship with Kyouya could be trusted, and that perhaps more than one of them had said something within earshot of his father. Tamaki knew that it was wrong to keep a secret like this, but he wasn't at all ready to admit it even to himself. Their love was still blossoming and it was still a very scary thing: he wasn't about to drag anyone else into it. And then he remembered the scene in the music room from what couldn't have been more than half an hour before.

"Doing something out of the pureness of emotion isn't always a bad thing, is it? If you truly mean what you say and do, then it can't be a bad thing."

"It would be nice if life worked that way. Unfortunately, not everyone shares that opinion. No matter what you do, your only goal should be to please who matters, not who is watching."

Tamaki took a breath in to ask another question but lost it at the last moment and let the breath out in a cloudy sigh. He watched it dissipate in front of him before stopping to again take in the sights. The garden was always so peaceful at this time of year, even more so than in the warmer months. It may only have been because there are always so few people willing to bear the cold for even a glimpse of this.

"Things will work themselves out as they will, Tamaki. Sometimes all we can do is let them take their course, even if we don't like the direction in which it is headed."

Tamaki gave his father a hopeless look, his blue eyes wide with a silent plea that he knew could never be answered. The look only lasted a moment before he gave in and dropped his eyes to the pristine snow surrounding two pairs of footprints. It was the first time that he'd noticed—

"Our footprints," Tamaki said unexpectedly, garnering a look of confusion from his father. Then he demonstrated, gingerly placing his own foot into one of the prints just left by his father. It was a near perfect fit.

"You haven't been a small boy for quite some time, Tamaki."

"Yes, but... Never mind." Tamaki smiled, laughing a little at himself, though he was just as careful in removing his foot as he'd been in placing it. "It's quite cold. We should head back inside."

"Would you like to come back to my office to warm up a little?"

Tamaki shook his head. "No, I have some things to attend to."

"Very well, then." His father gave him a knowing smile that Tamaki did his best to ignore as he turned and headed back the way they had come.

At the door, he kicked the snow from the soles of his shoes and dusted it from the tops before he set off to return to the music room. Regardless of pride, effect or emotion, an apology was in order.

* * *

_à continuer_


	2. L'hiver

**CHAPITRE DEUX: L'HIVER** — **CHAPTER TWO: WINTER**

* * *

By the time Tamaki made it back to the third music room, things on the other side of the large door were uncomfortably still. There was very clearly no movement from within, but Tamaki wanted to believe otherwise anyway. Maybe that was the reason that he carefully pushed the door open, holding his breath as he did in case the air from his lungs extinguished the wish and any possible light at the end of this tunnel with it.

There was only one body left in the room, and it was exactly on whom he had been counting. Although, he couldn't help but notice that there was something just a little sad about the way Kyouya sat here all alone, long after the rest of the club left, staying behind to rework finances he didn't dare even peek at while at home. "Kyouya," he called gently from the doorway, fearful yet of stepping inside and disturbing him.

He received no reply.

Slowly, he edged himself between the doors, slipping gracefully but only just barely through the opening before sealing the pair of them inside. Then he made his way directly to Kyouya, his shoes clicking against the marble floor and echoing off of every ornate wall. The vastness of the room multiplied the noise so much that it was almost scary just how quiet the room became once more when he stopped beside Kyouya. He didn't touch the other chair at the table and he didn't lean down to speak to him; he simply stopped beside him and peered down, watching every stroke of the pen in his hand and every twitch of his hands and fingers.

"Shouldn't you be home by now?"

"I didn't want to leave without first speaking to you," Tamaki answered quickly and quietly.

"About?"

"Firstly, I want to apologize for earlier."

"Rightly so."

Tamaki faltered somewhat, having hoped beyond reason that he wouldn't be met with such coldness, but he persevered. "Secondly, I wanted to try again to ask you about the important matters of earlier."

Kyouya set his pen down and took off his glasses before looking up at Tamaki. He imagined that he couldn't have possibly seen anything more than a blond blur, but Tamaki knew the gesture meant much more than imperfect vision. It was his own way of apologizing for his tenseness. "You work too hard, Kyouya."

"What on earth are you talking about?"

"No one in this entire school cares more about you and I than you do, and normally that would be wonderful, except that the only thing you seem to care about is hiding it."

"I have a lot at stake, Tamaki. If my father—"

"If your father finds anything out, my father would be there in a second to protect you."

"You cannot say that with any sort of certainty."

"Of course I can."

"He doesn't even approve of you being interested in me."

"He never said that, Kyouya." Tamaki took a seat then, his eyes focused on Kyouya's who he was sure even sans glasses could tell how wild the expression on his face was now. "He only wants for my happiness and he isn't about to prevent me from that."

"I understand that there are sympathies the two of you share with each other, but a homosexual love is a much different sort of affair. I think your father would prefer just about anything to this."

"I think _you_ would prefer just about anything to this." The dejection in Tamaki's voice did not go unnoticed, and he could tell Kyouya was choosing his words more carefully when he next spoke.

"My feelings for you are quite genuine, Tamaki, even if I am not quite so eager to display them for everyone and thing."

"That isn't what I'm trying to say."

"Then what are you trying to say, Tamaki?" Kyouya sounded exasperated and that in turn wore Tamaki out.

He sighed softly, shaking his head as he gathered himself, trying to find the best words to convey himself so that there could be as little backlash as possible. He didn't dare hope for none because he knew well enough that Kyouya was far too keen for that. "I'm just saying that you can at least let your guard down in front of our friends. It doesn't need to be a secret from them. It _isn't_ a secret from them and hasn't been for quite some time. I don't know why you insist on trying to keep it hidden."

"I don't see why they should be subjected to—"

"Love?" Tamaki only interrupted because he didn't want to hear any of the nasty things he anticipated coming from Kyouya's mouth. It hurt too much to even think about and actually hearing any of them out loud might be enough to kill him.

"Can you truly call this love?"

Despite his efforts, Tamaki had failed himself, and he felt a small part of himself lost in the darkness of Kyouya's response. "Love doesn't have anything to do with gender or age or logic at all. It's a feeling that is only made better when it's shared."

"Alas—"

"Kyouya, I can't sit here and listen to you dismiss me any longer, so unless you are about to say something productive, please don't say anything."

Kyouya's mouth quickly shut and Tamaki's fears were confirmed. He didn't understand how this could even be the same person who even as early as last month had seemed so willing and open. Then, as Tamaki was only beginning to pick up the pieces of himself, Kyouya spoke again in a tone that matched the vulnerability Tamaki had been hoping to see again. "My father has caught wind of our affairs."

"...What?"

"I don't know how either. All I know is that there isn't a single person I feel I can trust except you, only because you are the only other person in this with anything to lose."

"Not even our friends, Kyouya? That's cruel."

"Secrets accidentally slip from sealed lips all the time."

"You're being paranoid."

"I have far too much to fear in this, Tamaki." Kyouya was angry and Tamaki fell quiet even though he hadn't been ready at all to say a word. "If he begins to suspect anything other than strange rumors linked to this club that he hates so much, I am done for."

"I wouldn't let anything like that happen to you."

"You don't have that kind of power."

Tamaki knew that Kyouya was right, but didn't want to admit it even to himself. He wanted to be able to rescue Kyouya the way that Kyouya had helped to rescue him. He wanted to even begin to feel like he was going to be able to repay the debt he owed his friend for all the hours they'd spent making so many wonderful memories, initiating and maintaining this club, and forging bonds that Tamaki never, ever wanted to see disappear. The two of them were the seeds that spawned a new family for Tamaki and that was something for which he could never be grateful enough.

He placed a nervous hand over Kyouya's and was glad when it was warmly received and clasped in return. Tamaki squeezed it affectionately in an effort to apologize and profess a love greater than even he knew among so many other things he didn't know how to say. Kyouya made no move after that except to pick up his pen with his free hand and set back to work once more, but Tamaki stayed for the rest of the hour it took Kyouya to finish. Of course, he made sure to part from him before they left, trying to make an effort to sympathize no matter how much it pained him to lose the warmth of those fingers. Just the thought of them kept out the cold of the winter that had settled around more than just Japan.

* * *

_à continuer_


	3. Le visiteur

**CHAPITRE TROIS: LE VISITEUR** — **CHAPTER THREE: THE VISITOR**

* * *

Winter break had started and Tamaki was feeling quite torn. He wanted to spend the time with his friends, playing in the snow and having Haruhi teach him commoner games and pasttimes. However, there was a very large part of him that feared calling Kyouya ever since he'd heard the news of his father's notice. The first thought that had occured to him was that his own father might have said something to Kyouya's, but he didn't dare consider it for more than that one, fleeting moment. The idea of it was both frightening and disheartening, considering how understanding he'd been thusfar. And so the first day of vacation was a lonely one, in which Tamaki stayed in his room for as long as possible before he was finally dragged — rather listlessly — to etiquette lessons.

The following day didn't start off much better, either. It was already nearly eleven and Tamaki hadn't made a single move to get out of bed. He wasn't depressed, but he wasn't himself either; it had all the staff worried. They had truly been hoping that the gloom that had invaded his life just after summer break was gone for good, but here it stood, back in full force.

"Tamaki-sama," a maid called from the other side of the door. She didn't dare to enter the room, but Tamaki preferred that right now anyway. "Tamaki-sama, is there anything you would like us to do for you?"

"No, I am afraid there is nothing." His response was just as drab as his appearance, which had fallen into some surprising disrepair after only a single day. Perhaps it came from the way he hardly moved from his bed.

"Tamaki-sama," she called again, and the quaiver in her voice made it more than obvious that she was terribly afraid of being a nuisance. As such, Tamaki kept his voice much lighter in his response.

"Yes?"

"You do have a visitor. Shall I send him away?"

Tamaki shot straight up in bed, his eyes wide and panicked and his heart thumping so loudly he was sure the girl on the other side of his bedroom door could hear it. "No! No, send him in straight away!"

"Y-yes, Tamaki-sama!" There was confusion, elation, and a bit of her own panic in the maid's voice before Tamaki heard her footsteps clicking wildly down the stairs to retrieve his guest. There was only one person who could possibly be showing up so unexpectedly.

Only moments before the maid arrived back with the guest, Tamaki realized that he hadn't even dressed for the day. He immediately sprang from his bed and tore his closet apart searching for something to make himself presentable. He was halfway through pulling on his shirt when there was a knock at his door. "Come in!" he replied, his head still buried in his shirt.

"Senpai!" Haruhi cried, and even without looking at each other, they knew the other was blushing furiously. "I-I'm sorry! You said to come in!"

"No, no! It's quite all right!" Tamaki said, though it was clear from his voice that it was very much the opposite of all right. He hurriedly and haphazardly finished pulling on his clothes, then turned to see Haruhi still bundled against the cold outside and facing the door so that she wouldn't be subjected to a less than acceptably dressed Tamaki. "It's all right. I'm finished, now."

Even then, she was reluctant to turn around, but breathed an audible sigh of relief when she finally managed to peek over her shoulder. However, considering the bulk surrounding her tiny frame, it was a wonder she could see anything at all. "Why on earth would you admit someone when you aren't even dressed?"

"I...was expecting someone else..."

"Didn't the maid tell you—"

"She thought you were a boy."

"...Oh."

"And from the looks of your attire, one can certainly see why. Where did you find such things?"

"What are you talking about? Are you telling me you rich kids don't feel the cold?"

"No, not at all. But that coat and those boots...that scarf and hat and are those mittens?" The more Tamaki observed her clothing, the more excited he became. Even though each piece was so mismatched it hardly seemed plausible, there was a definite amount of charm to each one. If he hadn't been so busy admiring the commoner's winter wardrobe, he would've seen the growing look of exasperation on Haruhi's face.

"Sometimes I really worry for your sanity, Senpai."

"Ah! Why would you say such a thing? I am perfectly sane." Haruhi made no reply and Tamaki considered himself the victor. "But, Haruhi, why did you brave such arctic winds to come see me? Perhaps there is something you needed to talk to Daddy about?"

He caught the slight twitch in the corner of her mouth and his eyes immediately darted to hers, curious and worried. "I came to see if you wanted to play in the snow..."

Her voice had been so muted that even though he'd heard her clear as day (because maybe he had been listening just a bit too hard), he didn't believe her. "Wh-what?"

"I said I came to see if you wanted to play in the snow."

The first response Tamaki gave was a squeal that brought a look of immediate and utter disdain to Haruhi's face. But Tamaki didn't care. "Can we throw snowballs? Can we build a snowfort? A snowman? A snowwoman? A snowfamily?"

"Yes, yes. Just get dressed and come on. I'm getting really hot in all of these layers."

"Oh, Haruhi!" Tamaki's arms threw themselves around the girl, squeezing her tightly and yet still not feeling a single bit of her beneath the thickness of her winter clothes. It didn't matter, though; the effect and reaction were the same. "We are going to have so much fun! I won't take long at all! You can wait just by the door and I'll be out in a moment!" Tamaki tried valiantly to keep himself attached to Haruhi while simultaneously ushering her out of his bedroom so that he could dress more suitably. Eventually, she had to pry him off herself, stating that she wasn't going to watch him change twice in one day (or one lifetime), and he let her go so he could hurry off and change.

She'd hardly had the time to shut his door, it seemed, before he was bursting through it and ready for the outdoors. Of course, he looked just as wealthy as ever, with a coat to match boots and scarf, hat and gloves, but at least all the blue did suit him well. It brought out his eyes, which he was not at all hesitant to mention, more than once, before the pair of them managed to make it outside. There, Tamaki found an even bigger surprise, as every one of his fellow hosts was awaiting him.

"It's about time!" the twins remarked, and Tamaki chuckled to himself a little at their discomfort. Honey-senpai and Mori-senpai were already tossing snow around, and Kyouya...Kyouya seemed like he'd much rather be somewhere else. The thought of the pair of them being nestled warmly beneath a kotatsu brought a smile to Tamaki's face as he watched Kyouya, who hardly seemed to notice his surroundings even now.

Tamaki stepped down from the entrance with all the grace and poise he could ever imagine for himself, but slipped on the very last stair due to a small patch of black ice. Kyouya was quick to catch him despite his daydreaming, though it was more likely because he had no other choice but to fall over himself with Tamaki landing on top of him. "Are you all right?" he asked, steadying Tamaki until he'd found his feet.

"Thanks to your quick reflexes." He almost moved in for a kiss before remembering that Kyouya had wanted them to lay low. The thought of that seemed to darken his features considerably. "Are you all right?"

"Of course." His answer was curt, as always, and Tamaki didn't like that. He didn't dwell though, for he was with his family and they were going to have a wonderful day together no matter what.

"Haruhi! What should we start with!"

"Oh, I don't know—"

"Canon one! Fire!" the twins called in unison, and Tamaki looked up just in time to see an exceedingly large mass of snow heading straight for him, only to be hit square in the face seconds later. "Bingo!"

* * *

_à continuer_


	4. More news on an update

**Update: 08.07.2011**

I've gotten a brand new first chapter drafted for _Des mots simples_. Hopefully you guys won't be mad at me for changing things. I think the story is going to work better this way, and it's going to give you all an ending you deserve, rather than the one that was trying to come out. However, I think it's going to eat up _La simple vérité_, but that may be for the best.

I'll try to keep you all updated on things, but I am curious as to whether anyone out there still wants to see an end to this besides me? Please, let me know! 

-pekori


End file.
